Yeah pretty amazing that Pete was a 105 pounder and Geno's 165. Petey looked like an 5'4" inverted triangle.
Most dominant PA high school wrestler ever?
- Thread starter royboy
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By the way to call Henry Green's win over Carr a "screw job" is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. It was a fantastic match between two great wrestlers. Your hearsay comment is BS.
Who was the kid from Erie East who went to Ohio U and ended up winning a national championship with a 29 second pin at the finals?
Edit: I think his name was Andy Daniels?
Edit: I think his name was Andy Daniels?
Must have been one of the Carr's. The only other great wrestler from Erie East that I remember was Woody Thompson.
Yeah, come to think of it, my mind is most likely wrong on this one...I am mixing up one of the Carr's with Daniels, and for some reason I have that 30 second pin etched in my head.
Woody Thompson ended up playing RB for the Falcons. Many of Jimmy Carr's younger brothers wrestled for Tech Memorial, not east. Actually, Nate Carr (3 time NCAA Champion and Olympian - ended up taking Bronze in Seoul after getting absolutely and unequivocally screwed in his Semi-Final match) is one of the greatest PIAA wrestlers ever. Solomon and Michael also wrestled for Tech.
Can't remember if he wrestled, but from that same generation, Billy Blanks (the "TaiBo" guy) went to East - many claim he was potentially the greatest athlete of them all.
Somewhat off topic, but I see Jimmy Carr's nephew David, Nate Sr.'s sophomore son, laid waste to Ohio's D1 145 pound bracket. Schwing!!
I'm a district 11 guy and can confirm that Brad Weaver was Bobby's brother and died in car accident. They were both from Easton. Bobby wrestled for Lehigh but was too small for college . the weight was 118 and he won the Olympic gold at 105. Speaking of Easton Jack Cuvo was one of the most dominant wrestlers I've seen. He was at his best on his feet and a motor that would not stop. I think he medaled in the state cross country meet. He maybe could of won 3 or 4 nationals but lost to Ricky Bonomo from Bloomsburg twice in the tournament. Ricky was a 3 time national champ. As good as Cuvo was the best local I saw was Jordan Oliver who could dominate from his feet or the mat.I saw Oliver and Kindig wrestle for districts at the stake weight. That's when District 11 was loaded and looks like it's coming back.
My memory might be a little off here, but when I was in HS, the legend going around was that Cuvo was single-handedly responsible for the tech fall rule in PA. We called it the 15-point embarrassment rule, and I got the joke when I saw Cuvo. A lot of his matches were takedown tournaments.
I agree with your description of his matches. He just dominated by the rules that were in place. I'm not saying I was a fan but his matches were done no later than half way through the 2nd period.
I can't speak about all districts but there's been transfers going on in District 11 for years. Beca just gets to do it easier. Remember ,those kids are still from the area. Thankfully they chose to go AAA. Saucon Valley did the same in 1976 and won AAA as a AA school
Wade pinned everybody he wrestled his senior year, but he only wrestled a total of 2 PIAA matches. Yes he had 2 falls, but he was being handled in the finals until the elevator ride. I was a kid and saw Wade wrestle several regular season matches, I saw his 2 district matches (Holidaysburg wrestled in a different sectional) his 2 regional matches and both state matches. Wade was quite good his senior year, but he did not maul the living snot out of people like Kolat did or Lee does.
As an Olympian and a midlands champ, Jimmy Carr may have been the most accomplished Pennsylvania high school wrestler, but he won only that 1 NW Regional championship which qualified him for only one PIAA tournament and he struggled mightily to win that single PIAA championship. Highly accomplished, but no where near the most dominant high school wrestler in PIAA wrestling history.
The PIAA championships are by far the most difficult, most highly contested, most unpredictable, and most grueling championships in all of high school wrestling. Nothing comes close. Great wrestlers have finished out of the money, underdogs have gone all the way, the weight classes are nearly impossible to predict barring dominant kids, and everyone needs to travel to freaking Hershey and THEN wrestle, haha.
I too was in the Jaffa for that match. I always remembered it being quite an exciting match. Coach Caslow has the match on tape and I have watched it several times. The numerous false starts actually make the match less exciting, but the skill set for both green and carr is freaking amazing.
Yep. Blue and White through and through, but as a kid my wrestling hero was West Branch Warrior, d6 and nw regional champion Timmy Howe.
I saw the other day you are from out in the burbs, morrisdale. Jason is doing a nice job for the Warriors.
I will not see Cas until sometime next week. I will see if he can get it loaded onto youtube.
Different time. Wrestlers didn't wrestle as many matches. Wade wasn't a mauler for sure. So, if mauling wrestlers is your metric, who am I to disagree. But, he pinned everyone in his path. If pinning someone is your metric for dominance, then he certainly was dominant.
According to the official PIAA state tourney results, Wade was 23-0 his Sr. year but only had one fall at states.
http://live.pa-wrestling.com/1968-1969/piaa/
...maybe not the most dominant in terms of titles won in high school or college, Wade gets my vote as the most exciting wrestler to watch...ever...
...he had moves that had never been used before... and few that have been used since...
... most wrestlers wanted no part of him...one year an All-Star match was held in Lehigh's Grace Hall and on the whistle Wade turned his back to his opponent and backed across the mat toward him... the guy refused to make contact and backed up completely off the mat!!!...
...he had moves that had never been used before... and few that have been used since...
... most wrestlers wanted no part of him...one year an All-Star match was held in Lehigh's Grace Hall and on the whistle Wade turned his back to his opponent and backed across the mat toward him... the guy refused to make contact and backed up completely off the mat!!!...
... and was offered scholarships to Oklahoma State and Ohio State before he got to the bench.
True story is that before Shorty Hitchcock's match at Rec Hall against Jerry White, Schalles took Jerry aside in the hallway, showed him some kind of new move he was working on, and Jerry went out and pinned Shorty using the exact move. Stuff like that...just the greatest ever.
Mike Johnson from Lock Haven late 50's, early 60's. 84-0 and never taken down. Not glamorous against the backdrop of today's kids, but there were some great wrestlers back in the day.
And from the pin or go six minutes era. I'd have to put Lee, Colat and Johnson at the top of the list, with not much between them.
I believe after the first out of bounds call, Mark Perry ran over to the officials with a red flag protesting Wade backing into his opponent.Could that have been Perry or was that the wrong era?
Interesting that Mike Johnson worked with Pete Morelli in the DuBois High School wrestling room, helped make him the great wrestler he was, and now Pete's son is wrestling for Cael.
Mike would have been a multiple time national champ in college had he not gotten hurt. He lost in the finals in overtime as a sophomore, was injured in the bout and was never the same again.
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The year Jerry won states, at weigh-ins Wade walked up to Don Rodgers and told him, "hey Rodgers, White is going to pin you. Best of luck with that."
